


The Many Oddities of a Polyhexian Sparkling

by InMoNochrome



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Accidents, Fluff, Gen, Humor, PolyAU, Transformer Sparklings, Wheeljack of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2019-11-15 23:16:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18082832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InMoNochrome/pseuds/InMoNochrome
Summary: Sparklings are cute, fun to play with and enjoyable to watch. Polyhexian sparklings on the other hand are cute in an cuddlefish kinda way, difficult to catch once they find their pedes and maybe just a little bit bitey. Prowl learns this the hard way.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on my phone and in many...many sittings, hopefully it's enjoyable to read.
> 
> Thanks to Searece for taking the time to beta read

Prowl grunted as he picked himself off the floor of Wheeljack’s lab. His sensory panels were vibrating from the concussion blast that came from behind but thankfully deflected any physical damage.

Something--or somethings?--landed on the ground with a clatter while he remembered that Jazz had been behind him when they were exiting the lab. He glanced around and squinted through the odd colored smoke.  
“Jazz?!”

He waved the smoke away with his servos and closed his vents to keep from inhaling any of it just as he saw Wheeljack moving through the shroud.

Helm fins flashed in concern, “Everyone alright? That wasn’t supposed to happen.” He chuckled nervously when he suddenly kicked something and sent it skidding across the floor.

Both of them paused to stare at what looked like armor colored a distinct black and white.  
Amber and green optics snapped up to stare at each other and then the floor that was slowly becoming clearer as the smoke dissipated. 

Armor pieces lay strewn across the floor and upon closer inspected it was laid out like a mech had fallen from a great height. 

Wheeljack’s fins flashed in alarm as he and Prowl knelt down to see better. He picked up a piece and found that it was only armor, no circuitry or anything living from a cybertronian. Fins flashed in confusion as Prowl came to the same conclusion.

Prow made to speak when he saw Jazz’s helm armor move. He stared for several kliks before he moved towards it and hesitantly picked it up. Wheeljack held his vents as he did so.

The helm came up easily and was empty when he looked inside. A scuffle on the ground had him quickly glancing back down to see a... sparkling? Not a sparkling frame he’d ever seen before, but it appeared to be one. It glanced up with big white optics and looked between him and Wheeljack before it went to all fours and began hissing at them. Little helm extensions flared out and shook with the tiny frame as it backed away from them, baring tiny fangs.

Ratchet chose that exact moment to barge into the lab. The open door and fresh air swiftly sucked out the rest of the smoke to make the situation clearer. Neither Prowl nor Wheeljack turned to Ratchet as they watched the little feral creature.

Ratchet had been ready to shout at Wheeljack when he’d realized neither him or their SIC had noticed him. His gaze was drawn to the hissing sparkling on the floor and suddenly he was just as speechless as the other two.

“That /really/ wasn’t supposed to happen,” Wheeljack spoke up, breaking the trance everyone was in. The sparkling backed up and made to dart away when Wheeljack grabbed him. It earned him a bite to the servo. “Slag!” Wheeljack jerked his servos back and dropped the sparkling who landed on all fours and moved to run away.

Hearing Wheeljack curse had Prowl snapping out of his trance and snapping up the sparkling. He grunted as the small being struggled and delivered a sharp bite to his servo as well. He gritted his denta but continued to shift the sparkling so he could cradle him properly. 

“Calm,” Prowl said in a stern voice that only caused the wiggling sparkling to struggle more and even growl at him. Eventually he had the sparkling secured in his hold and just waited for it to wear itself out.

The sparkling continued to struggle and tried to kick its pedes and only grew more agitated with its limbs restrained. Eventually it tired from its struggle and stopped wiggling to attempt biting but couldn’t find anything to latch its denta on. The sparkling vented hard and tiredly leant its helm against Prowl’s chest.

Ratchet finally came around to look at the exhausted sparkling in Prowl’s arms, and the more he stared at it and the surrounding area, slowly he put everything together. He snapped his helm around to look at Wheeljack, who in turn unconsciously backed away several steps. He continued to frown as he silently turned back to inspect the sparkling.

Wheeljack admittedly was of the belief a silent Ratchet was much worse than a yelling one and quickly found himself spitting out words in an attempt to defend himself, “It wasn’t meant to do that! Well somewhat-but not like that! I wouldn’t intentionally create something to-“ Ratchet shot a glare back at him and had him zipping it.

“Ratchet?” Prowl cut in softly, still cradling the sparkling.

“It’s Jazz.” He brushed a digit under the sharp claws on the sparkling’s pedes that flexed at the touch and then to the extensions sprouting from his helm.

Jazz whined and curled up away from the prodding digits and bared tiny fangs at the medic.

Prowl stared in shock. “Why is he so different? He looks nothing like Jazz.”

“That’s up for debate. Have you ever seen Jazz without any armor?” Ratchet asked rhetorically. “Polyhexian frames aren’t common among city mechs, so it doesn’t surprise me you’ve never seen one.” 

Prowl didn’t know what to say to that as he hadn’t ever seen one and switched his attention back to Wheeljack. “You are going to fix this. We can’t have Jazz, or anyone else for that matter, running around as sparklings.” 

“On that note, he’s going to need a guardian until this is resolved,” Ratchet added once Prowl was done. He gave Prowl a look. “And you’re probably best for the job.”

“Ratchet,” Prowl started, ready to argue before he was interrupted with a servo in his face.

“You have your own office and while not the most stable of work hours, you can easily watch over him, not to mention he seems to have warmed up to you,” Ratchet finished smoothly with one final scan ran over Jazz’s small frame before he switched over to Prowl for good measure. His scan fell over Prowl’s servo and he quickly rubbed an antiviral over the wound before wrapping it. “Everything looks good. I’ll have First Aid bring you some low grade for Jazz.”

Prowl opened his mouth to argue but found it would do no good. He glanced down at the now recharging sparkling in his arms and sighed as he turned to leave the lab. “Keep me updated.” He didn’t wait for a response and exited the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bath time

Prowl paused in his typing as a skittering sound ran across his office floor. He didn’t say a word as it suddenly stopped, and he continued his work. Again the sound went by and Prowl had to physically stop himself from glancing over his desk.

The sound eventually stopped and Prowl visibly relaxed until he suddenly heard it again under his desk. He pulled back and glanced down to see Jazz scratching at the ground, “Jazz?”

Two bright white optics peered up at him before he went back to sniffing and scratching the ground.

Prowl sighed and picked up the distracted sparkling who whined at being taken from his scratching. The sparkling seemed more like a mechanimal than a juvenile mech. “Hungry?” he asked, though didn’t expect an answer, and calmly removed the low grade energon from subspace and offered it to the sparkling.

Jazz sniffed it hesitantly as he’d done every time thus far before he poked his glossa in and began to drink like a turbohound which made sense since the cube was so big. 

The Praxian sighed as he silently watched Jazz lap at the energon in the cube that the sparklings small frame was currently wrapped around. Just prior to the explosion in Wheeljack’s lab, he and Jazz had been getting closer. Light flirting and some inconspicuous brushes of plating had led to several private moments between them but never escalated to the truly intimate. With Jazz now in this sparkling state, he was worried about how this may affect their blooming relationship.

Prowl was startled back to the outside world when Jazz dipped his servos then face into the fuel and then came back out and shook.

Prowl cursed under his breath as energon sprayed everywhere from the shake and after looking down to pull a cloth from subspace was surprised to find Jazz gone. The telltale claw print trail leading off his desk though was a sign he was going to be cleaning his office the rest of the orn.

The SIC’s optics were drawn to movement under one of his spare office chairs which was where Jazz sat and licked at his tiny claws. Prowl sighed as he stood and walked over to the chair and knelt down to peer under it. The sparkling paused briefly to stare back before he resumed his cleaning.

The Praxian took the opportunity to scoop up the sparkling and was mildly surprised Jazz didn’t bite him as he did so. The sparkling rested in the crook of his elbow curled up as he continued to lick his claws and pedes of the energon.

Prowl vented a sigh of frustration as he looked over his now dirty office and decided a trip to the washracks was in order.

There were two washracks on the ship, each equipped with stalls while one had a small pool for bathing. No one ever used it except for extracurricular activities, as he’d been made aware from walking in on a few mechs. Because of that incident they’d made a sign for the racks for privacy which meant the racks were sometimes reserved in advanced.

While Prowl hadn’t fully approved, he couldn’t fault everyone who was tired of walking into awkward situations. Prowl personally didn’t need to know how flexible Mirage was, or anyone else for that matter.

Checking the schedule, the racks would be cleared for the next several joors so with that Prowl exited and locked his office.

The halls were empty as it was the middle of shift, which meant Prowl could walk the halls freely without interruption. He skirted the cameras just enough to cut Jazz out of the frame as he made his way to the empty washrack close to the officers’ quarters.

Once inside he checked the stalls to make sure they were alone before he placed the sign on the door to keep everyone out.

Jazz had stopped grooming himself to instead chirp at his new surroundings in the washracks. Prowl gently placed him on the ground when he began to fight him to get down. The Praxian sighed in frustration as he left Jazz to stare at the reflective floor and walked over to one of the stalls to turn on the overhead spray. He let the spray wash over him briefly and rubbed at some of the energon that had splashed onto his own frame. 

A splash sounded behind Prowl and had him whipping his helm around in search of Jazz. Amber optics were drawn to a ripple in the deep set pool and upon closer examination found the sparkling swimming around in said pool. 

Someone either hadn’t drained the pool or had plans to use it later. The latter was more likely thus Prowl swiftly got to work trying to catch Jazz and get him out of the pool which was much harder a task than originally thought. The sparkling darted to and fro easily dodging around his servos and even had the nerve to rub up against one just as he’d missed his catch.

Prow growled in frustration. How can a sparkling be so difficult to catch? Finally he stepped into the pool, effectively limiting the space Jazz could swim and was quickly thwarted as he’d tried to dodge around the Praxian only to run into a sensory panel.

Prowl winced at the feel of a mini torpedo hitting his wing. Jazz had more momentum going than he’d expected. Turning around he easily scooped up the disoriented sparkling and gently rubbed at the dried energon on his face. The energon flaked off and dissolved into the water as he rubbed the dried fuel from the tiny frame and got a weak slap from Jazz for his efforts.

He smirked at the look Jazz was giving him. The sparkling still rubbing his helm from his crash into Prowl’s wing. “Don’t give me that look. It’s your fault we’re here in the first place.”

Jazz chirped pitifully as he rubbed his helm into Prowl’s palm, servo easily cupping the other’s helm. A frown tugged at the corner of Prowl’s lips uncertain what Jazz was expecting from him. Hesitantly he stroked the small helm and taylu, which according to Ratchet were supposed to be very sensitive, and was rewarded with quiet purrs.

Prowl’s sensory panels sagged on his back as he brushed some of the remaining energon from his own frame before pulled the plug for the drain, stood up and then exited the pool. The move earned him a squeak and several angry chitters from his cargo until the spray from the overhead hit them both. 

Jazz quickly shifted large optics to the water raining down on them and held out a tiny servo as though testing the waters even though they were being drenched by said substance. Prowl was amused to see Jazz trying to catch the water in his mouth after a bit but had to quickly put a stop to that before the sparkling choked.

Several more angry chitters and towel downs later and Prowl had a cocooned Polyhexian now in recharge that he was ready to bring back to his office. 

He sighed as he watched Jazz recharge. He hadn’t expected a sparkling so young to be so active. He could only hope Wheeljack was close to finding a solution to their current problem.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enter Soundwave and Polyhexian cuddles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late posting, I meant to post this Sunday ^^'

Soundwave was working reconnaissance on the Autobot base. Megatron had become antsy with the lack of any stowaways on the ship, not that no stowaways was a bad thing. The Autobot saboteur hadn’t paid the Nemesis a visit in several weeks whereas the mech usually stopped by at least once a week, at least that was what Soundwave had deduced from the times he’d actually caught the mech.

Megatron was wanting to start a new project with the Autobots appearing so silent, so Soundwave had taken it upon himself to scout out the Autobot base to make sure they weren’t planning anything themselves.

A growl and hiss sounded close by to his location causing Soundwave to look around expectantly. His visor scanned the area but came up with nothing when a coyote suddenly scurried off. He shook his helm at the local fauna as he went back to scanning the base below the mountain he stood.

The hiss came again followed by a scratch at his pede. Glancing down, the Decepticon expected to see the wild dog that he’d watched scurry away but instead found a Polyhexian sparkling. 

Confused and surprised he let out some feelers to pick up the feral? sparkling. He flinched when the sparkling bit one of the feelers which quickly had him retracting them. He stared at the noticeable sparkling sized bite mark in his feeler. Was this the Autobot base’s new self-defense mechanism? It looked like a sparkling, so maybe if he treated it as one he could get around it. 

“Ravage: Eject.”

Ravage shot out of his chest and flipped through the air as he transformed. He landed hard on the ground and turned ready for a fight when his optics landed on the growling sparkling. He looked back at Soundwave. “Is this the danger?”

“New Autobot Defense. Order: Distraction.” And with that he turned back to scout the base from his perch while Ravage inched closer to the sparkling which had stopped growling upon seeing him.

The sparkling crawled on all fours to him and sniffed at him before perching on his legs and reaching up for his muzzle. Ravage chuckled as he sniffed back. It sure acted like a regular sparkling. He got the feeling that it wasn’t really a defense mechanism and more a sparkling testing out his escape skills.

The sparkling nuzzled his snout and chewed softly. 

Ravage snorted and lay down with his paws on either side of the sparkling’s frame and gently knocked him onto his back. The sparkling flailed his arms back and pedes up onto Ravage’s neck while the felinoid play-gnawed at the tiny servos that batted at his muzzle.

It didn't take long though for the sparkling to curl up comfortably as though ready to take a nap which had Ravage also laying his own helm down over the tiny frame.

When Soundwave looked over he could see the two snoozing and left them to it while he circled the base, keeping his distance in case of any other surprise defenses. By the time he made it back around Ravage was chasing the sparkling around the area.

The sparkling was constantly trying to jump on top of the felinoid while Ravage expertly dodged the attacks. He could clearly see Ravage tiring while the sparkling seemed to be just full of energy.

The felinoid finally lay down, vents coming hard while the sparkling climbed all over him trying to get him to play. Soundwave took pity and hesitantly reached out his feelers to grab the sparkling and rocked it gently to recharge. He was thankful when the Polyhexian fell into a peaceful recharge and debated whether to just leave it in the open to be found or take it with him.

The sound of a safety being clicked off caught his attention and had him stilling. He turned his helm to look over his shoulder and met the optics of the Autobot SIC.

“Put him down and step away,” was the cool command as he kept his rifle trained on Ravage.

Soundwave’s visor brightened and gently placed the recharging sparkling on the ground and commanded Ravage to return. 

“Now leave before I take you in.”

The order surprised the communications specialist but did as he was told but kept his visor on the mech until he was clear from the other’s sights. He frowned behind his mask at the lack of information to give his lord. The sparkling defense system was the only unusual thing unless... unless it wasn’t a defense! Soundwave looked over his shoulder in contemplation; that must have been why they were so quiet lately. 

Jazz was Polyhexian and the sparkling was Polyhexian. The mech must have recently had a sparkling and was still recovering which would explain his lack of activity.

Prowl glanced at Jazz’s recharging form once the Decepticon had left and gently picked him up. He’d barely turned his back before the sparkling had darted off and disappeared. 

He hadn’t expected to find him outside and had to ask Red Alert to review the cameras. He really hadn’t expected to find him with Soundwave but had found a bout of overprotectiveness overcome him mixed with a tad bit of jealousy seeing Jazz cradled in the mech’s feelers.

Prowl tightened his hold around Jazz and headed back to the Ark. It was getting late and he figured he’d follow Jazz’s lead and head to recharge himself.

-

Prowl groaned as he came out of recharge, glancing at the time he all but balked. It was much too early to be getting up, even for him and got to work trying to find why he’d woken up. There was a small shuffle under his armor which had Prowl freezing as he felt under his alternative parts covering his chest and found a sparkling pede.

“Jazz, what are you doing?” Gently Prowl tried pulling him out only to get scratched for the attempt. He winced and frowned before stared down at his chest armor that currently obscured the sparkling under his armor. He was unable to move much with Jazz’s current location and had come to the conclusion he’d have to remove his armor if he wanted to move without crushing Jazz.

He hadn’t gone without armor in so long, never mind just casual armor, since the war started. A few bots only wore the heavy armor during battle still while some of them were more aware of threats to themselves and of the vulnerability the casual armor held. He found the hidden clasps and unsnapped them which was harder than he’d expected from the lack of removal. Thankfully Ratchet still had physicals and had to remove the armor to get good scans so Prowl didn’t have to fear accidentally breaking the mechanisms.

Carefully once all of the clasps were undone he moved his chest armor up and off causing the sparkling to move closer to the center of his chest. Prowl stared in surprised confusion as Jazz curled up on his chest with an audio pressed to the Praxian’s shielded spark. The Poly purred and Prowl could feel him shutting down for recharge.

Prowl stared for several more kliks in wait to see if he would move again but he seemed content to lie on his chest. He sighed at his predicament. His wing joints would be killing him in the morning if he didn’t roll to his side, and he needed to do it sooner than later.

With a huff of his vents, Prowl covered Jazz’s small frame with one servo, pinning him in place while he rolled over to his side. His wing shifted from under him as he settled with a now squirming sparkling under his servo. Jazz whined and wiggled as gravity had him tumbling from his previous position into an uncomfortable sprawl in Prowl’s servo.

Prowl huffed at the squirming mass and grabbed one of his many pillows and pulled it against his stomach and chest before he dropped Jazz onto it. He watched with an amused smile as Jazz quieted to look at his new perch and turn a few circles before he pressed back up against Prowl’s spark casing with the pillow cradling him gently from the back. In a matter of kliks he slid within the space between the pillow and the Praxian’s chest.

Prowl didn’t know whether to laugh or be annoyed but he was too tired to figure it out so decided to drop it. He wound an arm around the pillow and sparkling before drifting back off to a much needed recharge.

-

“That sounds about right,” Ratchet commented as Prowl finished explaining his morning.

“...And you didn’t think to warn me earlier because?” Prowl questioned trying not to let his agitation show.

“I forgot.” Ratchet shrugged, unconcerned as he filed his paperwork with a silently fuming Praxian behind him. Absently glancing back, Ratchet had to turn his helm back around in an attempt to cover his snickers at the sparkling climbing the tactician.

Prowl was trying to keep up his glare but the tiny Polyhexian hanging off of his pauldron was making it difficult. Jazz opened his mouth, showing off his little fangs as he reached up to clamp onto Prowl’s chevron. The Praxian kept the sparkling at bay by constantly removing him from his shoulders to sit in his lap instead.

The Polyhexian wasn’t having it though and continued to climb the bigger framed mech. Prowl grunted as he pulled Jazz back down to his lap and kept his servos secured around the small frame. Jazz hissed and flared his short taylu and chewed at the Praxian’s digits.

Ratchet smirked as he heard the ‘intimidating’ hiss and turned back to face the pair with two cubes in his servos.

Prowl remained focused on the sparkling trying to eat his digits and not on the medic so was startled when Jazz suddenly stilled completely. The sound of liquid being poured caught the tactician’s attention and made him look up to see Ratchet pouring mercury from one cube to the other.

He frowned, “What are you doing?”

Jazz chirruped and reached for the flowing liquid while Prowl kept him in place.

“Polyhexians are not true land based frames. The sparklings live most of their lives in rivers and streams till they reach their mechling stage,” Ratchet explained as he dipped a digit into the liquid and held it out to the calmed sparkling.

Prowl watched Jazz lap at the mercury on the medic’s digits, surprised by how calm the sparkling was now. 

“Polyhexians are big on physical contact, especially of the protoform,” Ratchet remarked as he redipped his digits into the mercury and offered them again to Jazz, “Polyhexians wore very little armor while swimming and the sparklings remained literally attached at their carrier’ sides.” Ratchet gave the tactician a pointed look.

Sensory panels flickered in agitation at the look and hesitantly, Prowl reached out to pet the sparkling’s bared back. He received a purr in response and Jazz pressing his frame back into the soothing touch. The Praxian flinched back slightly at the unexpected move before he firmed his strokes again onto the sparkling’s back.

Jazz made soft purrs like a cybercat as he got back and then belly rubs. Prowl actually smirked at the similarity to a pet before he suddenly frowned at the thought. “Are the adults like this normally too?”

Ratchet glanced from the datapad he was reading to watch them. “They grow out of it, still fairly tactile from what I’ve heard but they are still taught as most other mechs.”

“Once Wheeljack figures out how to turn him back, will he remember this? Or even us for that matter?” Prowl questioned now worried about Jazz forgetting everything and everybot.

Ratchet shrugged. “We won’t know until it’s done and even then if he does remember. Will he tell us or will he feel humiliated by the whole event and keep it bottled up?”

Prowl frowned as he scooped Jazz up into his arms. “It is paramount that Wheeljack finds a solution then, fast.”

—

Prowl could hear Jazz crawling around his office floor as he had done everyday since his transformation. He held back a sigh as he heard the telltale sound of the small scratching at the floor; his floor was filled with tiny claw marks, and Chip had actually asked if they were from rodents. 

The Praxian had made a point of hiding Jazz away when the humans were around. While he was around the size of a human juvenile he was still dangerous to them. Prowl watched as Jazz clawed his way up to the top of his desk and sat on all fours and stared. At times he felt the two white optics staring at him to be eerie and they only reminded him that no one had seen the Polyhexian’s optics before this point.

Prowl held out his servo already knowing what the sparkling wanted and was rewarded with Jazz scurrying over and rubbing against his servo like a felinoid, purr and all. It was cute to watch, though he’d never admit so out loud for others to hear and use as ammo against him. The only problem was that petting Jazz meant he only had one servo to use for work. It was much easier to work when Jazz was in his lap that way he could easily switch servos between tasks.

When the purring stopped Prowl glanced back up from the datapad he was just about to return to only to see Jazz staring at the corner of his desk. Optics followed the tiny one’s stare to a small crystal plant that he’d managed to save from Praxus and had managed to make new buds.

Prowl frowned, not liking where this was going as he watched Jazz brighten before he crawled over to the plant. He refrained from outright grabbing the sparkling, having learned Jazz would bite if mechhandled suddenly.

He watched with growing dread as Jazz stared, seemingly enraptured by the crystal’s glow. And that was it, the sparkling reached out for one of the buds and moved too fast for Prowl to catch him before the bud disappeared into the Polyhexian’s mouth.

Sensory panels shot up in shock as he grabbed Jazz and sat him at the edge of his desk while he attempted to persuade Jazz to open his mouth. The sparkling simply crunched the small bud up before he visibly swallowed.

Prowl froze as Jazz calmly watched him. Okay, he swallowed the crystal after chewing... he seemed fine. He hesitated in calling Ratchet and instead sat Jazz in his lap when the sparkling looked ready to go for another crystal bud. The medic would more than likely tell him he forgot and that they ate anything they can get ahold of.

The Praxian sighed. He would need to keep a better watch over Jazz if those were the things the sparkling planned to get up to. He’d always thought Jazz could be tiring as an adult; he never thought that it would only be ten times worse with him as a sparkling that isn’t even big enough to open doors.

Prowl rubbed his helm as he absently watched Jazz help himself back down to the floor while using Prowl as a ladder. Several kliks of silence passed before the scratching started again and he felt his processor begin to ache.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel bad bc I waited so long to post this D: one more short chapter left

Carly cooed at the Cybertronian sparkling that only came up to her hip in height, which was rather small for a Cybertronian in her opinion. Even Blaster’s cassetticons weren’t that small.

Prowl held the sparkling and looked admittedly uncomfortable by the sounds she was making while Spike stared in what could only be described as morbid fascination.

“So where did it come from?” Spike asked, ever blunt. Carly nudged him hard in the side.

Prow glanced down at the sparkling wiggling in his arms that kept its optics trained on the two humans in what Prowl called his ‘want to eat’ face. “...Wheeljack.”

Spike gave him an odd look. “So Wheeljack made it... so is this an experiment thing or a birds and the bees kinda thing?”

Carly smacked him again. “I think what Spike’s trying to ask is how do Cybertronians create tinier Cybertronians?”

“I believe the term you’re looking for is sparkling, and I believe Ratchet will need to be the one you ask as for where sparklings come from.”

“So it is a ‘birds and the bees’ kind of thing,” Spike announces triumphantly as Carly facepalmed.

Prowl gave them a weird look not understanding. “What do birds and bees have to do with creating sparklings?”

Carly gave an awkward smile as she thought of the simplest way to explain, “It’s a euphemism for courtship and... other things that eventually could lead to a baby... or in this case, a sparkling.”

Prowl frowned. “Interfacing?”

Spike and Carly paused looking now completely lost. “Yeah...we probably need to ask Ratchet.” Because that sounded a bit too foreign and invasive?

Jazz had finally had enough and had managed to wiggle free of the Praxian’s grip and land on all fours on the floor. Carly had squeaked in fear when she saw the tiny Cybertronian-sparkling fall but was even more surprised by the dexterity it had in sticking its landing.

The sparkling stared at her with bright optics before he crawled over to her when she knelt down to be at his level. 

Carly was suddenly reminded of a puppy rather than a baby alien when it approached and tried to sniff her from a distance. Spike soon joined her at her side and apparently thinking the same thing reached a hand out for the sparkling to smell. She was not ready for the sparkling to bare his fangs and make a leap at Spike’s hand though.

“Jazz!” Prowl called as he caught Jazz midleap before he could do any damage to the humans.

Spike had fallen backwards and away from the now suspended sparkling in Prowl’s servo. It didn’t take long for his brain to process Prowl’s words. “Jazz?”

Prowl seemed to freeze in place not having realized what he’d said. “...yes.” 

“So when you said Wheeljack, you meant one of his experiments flopped,” was Carly’s eloquent conclusion and simply received a nod in answer.

“He’s working to fix it though right?” Spike piped up now with a more concerned look on his face as he watched the slowly settling sparkling.

Prowl nodded slowly as he watched Jazz slowly begin to power down. “He is, but he has yet to make any breakthroughs.”

Carly stared at the now sleeping sparkling then at Prowl. “The crew doesn’t know, do they? I feel we would have heard about this from them if so.”

Prowl shook his helm in the negative. “We felt it best not to inform them to try to keep any information from leaking to the decepticons. He’s much too vulnerable in this state.”

“Agreed, so no telling the crew,” she concluded, giving Spike a warning look, knowing he’d probably tell Bumblebee no matter what she said. She didn’t get a confirmation from him though because the alarms chose that moment to go off.

—

The sparkling glanced around and chirped at the empty room, the winged mech having left him in alone.

It didn’t take long for Jazz to get bored and start to wander around to see what small spaces he could fit inside, the ceiling vent being one of them. It didn’t take much from there for the sparkling to explore the tunnel he’d found connected to the vents either. He could hear and see mechs moving down the hall from his vantage point and followed after them through the long tunnel until he found a loose vent he could pop out of. Just as he’d done just that a very big mech happened to be transforming right in front of him and the long box on the back looked like whole bunches of fun. His happy trill was drowned out by the mech’s engine as he leapt onto some kibble at the back of the box.

Jazz watched the ground go by fast below from where he was peeking out and chirped, wanting down now. The sudden feel of a transformation had the sparkling panicking and trying to get out when he was suddenly being held in large blue servos.

Blue optics stared down at him overbright and words were being said but Jazz didn’t understand them. He tilted his helm in confusion and chirped back. A moment of silence passed between them until the mech motioned to put him in a miniature black hole at the mech’s hip. Jazz panicked again but this time managed to slip out of the big mech’s servos and instinctively landed on all fours. He was off like a light once he hit the ground and quickly put distance between himself and the red and blue mech. 

Jazz stopped once he made it to some rocks that he felt hid him well and peeked around the sides for the big mech that maybe followed him. From there he heard Powl’s voice and turned in that direction and made to move when he was suddenly picked up by the scruff. He hissed and thrashed as the new mech turned Jazz around to face him.

“A sparkling?” the mech questioned to himself as he held the sparkling close and disappeared into a nearby cave.

Jazz growled the whole way as he bided his time to get in a good bite when there were suddenly many colorful lights in the cave along with several more red opticked mechs. Everyone suddenly stopped what they were doing at the sight of the sparkling, the sound of something heavy hitting the ground had the winged mechs rushing over to their companion and bitlet.

“Where did you find a sparkling!?” The red and white one shrieked which only made Jazz bury his helm in the blue mech’s servos as he covered his abused audios.

“Aww, you’re scarin’ him, Star,” the purple one chuckled as he wiggles his servos just a bit too close to the sparkling and earned himself a sharp bite in return, “Agh!”

Star merely smirked at his purple companion putting some distance between himself and the tiny fanged sparkling.

“I’m bleeding over here!” the purple mech complained while Star and the blue mech ignored him. 

Jazz ignored the talking mechs in favor of looking around. His tiny claws scratched at yellow glass and quickly found his attention drawn to his reflection in said surface. This fascination however only last a couple of kliks before he started to squirm again in the mech’s hold. 

The mech must have seen him open his mouth to bite because the next thing the sparkling knew was he was on the ground and on all fours. He took off under some large equipment and winded in between the legs of some overly large green and purple mechs and didn’t stop until he was properly hidden under some equipment. He hissed as he saw large pedes approach his hiding spot when his focus became suddenly focused on some brightly colored cords. 

His tiny denta hurt, probably from biting the big mech, but he just needed to chew on something. That would surely get rid of the pain. The sparkling clamped down on two of the cords simultaneously and easily pierced through them in a matter of kliks, severing them completely. He received a jolt in response followed by the sound of the equipment he was under beginning to crescendo in a scream as it began to heat up. Jazz shot out from under the equipment in search of a hidey hole somewhere while the big mechs had a look of horror over their faces while they were frozen in shock. He’d just found a large surface to hide behind in a nook when the machine exploded in fire and metal. He yawned as shrapnel flew overhead but remained safe in his nook as he slowly powered down for a nice nap.

\---Elsewhere

Prowl ducked behind a boulder for cover just as a stray laserbolt flew over his helm. He barked instruction over comms as he returned fire, hitting the mech who wouldn’t stop shooting at him square in the face. The mech screamed as the acid bit into his faceplate and Prowl felt satisfaction that the mech was preoccupied with more important things now.

The battle wasn’t over any human power plants this time and seemed more of a brawl to cripple the other side. Clearly Megatron was looking for the quickest way to end the war and apparently his plan was to overpower them with numbers as Prowl had noticed several mechs he’d never seen before. Cannon fodder most likely, and Prowl’s suspicion that these mechs were actually coming from Cybertron through a space bridge became apparent when Wheeljack announced he’d just received a reading on his sensors that a space bridge had just activated.

With Jazz out of commission, Mirage and Bumblebee hadn’t brought him much news on any plans the Decepticons might have been scheming but the last bit of information Jazz had brought him was that Megatron was in contact with Shockwave. He could only imagine what they’d been working on other than creating another space bridge.

They needed to be careful as the Constructicons hadn’t made an appearance yet. One good thing so far was that Sideswipe and Sunstreaker with the help of Hound had grounded the Conehead trine early in the fight, putting them out of commission.

Starscream and his trine were also missing, he noted as Optimus brawled with Megatron in the middle of the rocky field.

An explosion suddenly rang out followed by a loud crack that had everyone scrambling as the ground imploded. Everything happened in a matter of kliks, and once it was all done Prowl and several other peered out from their cover to look into the gaping chasm that was once the battlefield. 

Optimus could clearly be seen partially buried under the rubble but didn’t seem to be injured while he could only see Megatron’s fusion canon. Prowl could also make out pieces of a now broken space bridge which Wheeljack confirmed when he checked his sensors. Further on Prowl could see that chasm stretched further and was actually a servodug tunnel.

::Prowl.::

Prowl paused as someone spoke into his comm., and it only took a couple of kliks for him to recognize that voice. ::Jazz,:: he answered back, unsure of what to say as he was still a sparkling when he’d left him locked in his quarters. 

::Care to explain how I ended up underground in a tunnel with little to no armor?::

The SIC cringed at the way the words were said in that deceptively calm tone that Jazz only ever used when he wanted to hurt someone or something, but then he thought about the tunnel comment and glanced back into the chasm. He should have been notified if Jazz had left his quarters though he shouldn’t have been able to reach the doorpad. ::...Your current location?:: He asked hoping to confirm that the other was potentially in the tunnel in front of him. A knife flew passed his helm from the tunnel and he keenly got the sense that Jazz was not happy.

Prowl vented out before he jumped down into the hole in the ground along with several others choosing to help get their leader out of the rubble as both Optimus and Megatron had been where the ground fell in. Prowl rushed passed all of them to go further into the tunnel and found Jazz sitting on a rock playing with a knife.

“Jazz,” he said calmly trying not to stare, not that it was anything he hadn’t seen before except for maybe the much longer taylu on the Polyhexian’s helm.

“Prowl,” he glanced up with his white optics, his visor having been with his armor that was still in Wheeljack’s lab, “Care to explain?”

Sensory panels didn’t twitch as he answered with one name, “Wheeljack.” And apparently that’s all that needed to be said as Jazz nodded his helm and Prowl knew that meant the inventor would need to go into hiding very soon.

“Anyways I was able to tie up the Constructicons, and the command trine… they were already unconscious when I woke up.” Jazz glanced back behind him where said trine and Constructicons were all tied up.

Prowl looked over the Polyhexian’s shoulder still a bit unnerved by the conversation shift but also surprised considering he’d been a sparkling only moments before or at least he assumed it was only moments ago, and he had several mechs tied up as though it were no great feat. “You don’t remember anything?”

The mech shook his helm in the negative only then really noticing his missing helmet. He brought his servos up and grabbed the closest two taylu and stared. “It’s been a long time since I hadn’t worn a helmet... How much time has passed since I was out?”

Prowl shifted as he pulled a thermal blanket out for Jazz to cover up with. “Approximately one human week.”

Jazz nodded slowly, “Wheeljack explains why I can’t remember, but how did I get here?”

Prowl couldn’t help but shrug. “I honestly don’t know. We didn’t bring you out here when the alarms went off at the base.”

“...You say that like you’d been carrying me around the base...”

“Somewhat.”

Whatever else Jazz had planned to say was cut off by Ratchet suddenly spotting them and yelling at Prowl for not telling him Jazz was back to normal or that he’d brought him to the battlefield. Prowl took the berating with dignity as he walked Jazz closer to the hole that had been made most probably by Jazz. 

The Decepticons were more occupied digging out their leader than fighting as they dug out the mech’s fusion canon that was no longer attached to the mech, much to the diggers’ surprise.

Optimus was coming to and dug himself out the rest of the way just as Prowl and Jazz made it to the base of the rubble. Ratchet was quick to scan Jazz for any problems before he moved onto Optimus who appeared fine if only a bit dented.

In the next instant though, Megatron was bursting out of the rubble with as much vigor as when he shouted at Starscream. Everyone stilled, servos on their subspaces ready to pull out their weapons as he surfaced. He grunted, more dented than Optimus, having been buried completely and looked around with a glare until his optics landed on the Autobot SIC, or rather the mech standing next to him. He hadn’t seen a Polyhexian in ages since being on Cybertron and they always were rather fetching.

Jazz stared with everyone else until he saw the look in the mech’s optics and thusly began to glare back at the Kaonite. The look must have snapped him out of the weird trance because in the next instant Megatron was calling for a retreat and fled the scene. Decepticons could be seen attempting to drag the command trine and Constructicons further down the tunnel most likely to the original entrance.

The rest of the Autobots stared confused by what had just happened before Optimus ordered everyone to roll home, while Jazz had to ride in his trailer, much to the Polyhexian’s annoyance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had hoped to add more sparkling bits but the idea abandoned me and I couldn't think of anything else to add.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last short chapter to wrap it up.

Ratchet didn’t release him until he’d had a proper scan followed by a checkup and some firewall boosts. Apparently his adventures as a sparkling had reverted and cleared out all of his virus protections along with all of his mods. Jazz was truly vulnerable to attack and the special ops operative was feeling it.

He twitched and Ratchet growled. Jazz glared, not in the mood to pretend how he was feeling, not that Ratchet never saw through him anyway. Finally the medic pulled back and put his scanner away.

“Everything should be good; you just need to let everything settle,” Ratchet declared in his way of saying ‘no work until I say so’.

Jazz frowned fiddling with the thermal blanket crumpled in his lap. “And my armor?” He felt extremely vulnerable without it, never mind he only kliks ago had no firewalls to protect him but he still had no armor to physically protect him.

“Wheeljack is working on some since your original armor... didn’t withstand, and well...” Ratchet trailed off with a servo gesture at Jazz.

Jazz frowned. “I don’t understand.”

Ratchet glared at him. “You no longer fit your armor.”

The room went quiet as tension filled the space, monitors beeping in the background went unnoticed as Jazz stared blankly at the medic. He was already frustrated by the lack of memory for the past several days and trying to keep a cheerful persona had since gone out the proverbial window when even Prowl wouldn’t tell him exactly what had transpired over those days. Unshielded optics narrowed as he made to retort only for the medbay doors to beep and open. 

Ratchet had locked them to keep nosy bots out so it could either be an ops mech or command staff. Only when Prowl appeared in the doorway of the private room did Ratchet relax and then frown. “You take care of him. I’m tired of moody bots this cycle.”

Prowl frowned as the medic left him alone with the still visibly simmering ops mech. He couldn’t stay mad though as Jazz shimmied over and patted the space next to him. With nothing to lose he complied and was slightly surprised when the mech let his helm fall against his shoulder.

“So what embarrassing things did I do while you toted me around the ark?” Jazz asked without preamble and looked up to meet Prowl’s optics.

Prowl paused briefly to take in that stare before he replied truthfully, “Most of the ark didn’t know but for the past few weeks you’d been roaming my office and surrounding area as a sparkling.” Silence reigned between them as he let Jazz soak that in.

Jazz pulled back to look Prowl in the optics with a serious look. Prowl could see the multitude of thoughts quickly flowing behind those optics and gently took the Polyhexian’s servo in his own and squeezed it gently. That seemed to break Jazz’s trance as the mech slumped back against Prowl’s shoulder. “Hope I wasn’t terrible...”

Prowl chuckled as he relaxed as well and continued to caress the smaller’s servo, “I wouldn’t use the word terrible.”

Jazz huffed in response and pushed the Praxian over so he could crawl on top of him to rest his helm against the mech’s spark. His taylu splayed over the mech’s chest as he made himself comfortable.

Prowl chuckled and laced his servos through the long tendrils from Jazz’s helm and rubbed his back comfortingly. It seemed a few things carried over after all. 

Jazz frowned and tilted his helm to meet the SIC’s optics, “What’s so funny?”

Prowl hesitated in meeting the ops mechs gaze, “It’s just, you wouldn’t sleep any other way except curled near my spark...I thought it interesting that that would be the first thing you did when you regained your…original state.”

The Polyhexian flushed and punched Prowl in the stomach causing the mech to jerk from the hit. He huffed, “Better keep that ‘interestin’ thought to yaself.” He grinned when he received a pained grunt in answer, “That sounds better.”

“I think I preferred you as a sparkling,” Prowl lightly joked still rubbing his abdomen, “The only think I had to worry about then was you biting me.”

Jazz pushed himself up and smirked back at the Praxian, “Ah can go back to biting if you’d like.”

Prowl hesitated at the mechs tone and the way Jazz’s visible optics darkened, “I think we should wait until you’re discharged before we do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sparkling Jazz:  
> http://theparallelwall.tumblr.com/post/178358023787/sparkling-poly-doodle-from-august-ive-been-on-a


End file.
